If you're loving to live by the ocean

And  living to love by the sea

And lucky enough to live on blue water

You're lucky enough by me...

...Scott Kirby

Sebastian River Marina was devastated by hurricane winds of over 120mph a few years ago. There was a pretty nice "old Florida" fuel dock, club house and bar on the premisies, but they all blew away.The fuel dock has been functioning since we've been coming here (October '07) but the rest of the reconstruction has been slow. In fact, when Joe and I left here in May of 2008 there weren't even restrooms and the marina office was a trailer.  This year we were greeted by a beautiful new building housing restrooms and showers in a class by themselves along the Intracoastal. The real business is still being conducted in the old office, but the plans for the future look very exciting. The pace of construction is not so much slow, but deliberate. Doug, the owner and fork lift/travel lift operator/exectutive manger is trying to create a family environment here, pool and restaurant, washers and dryers, picnic areas, etc for his customers. We'll be looking forward to watching the place grow, even considering the economic situation these days. The marina is very busy, boats coming and going, launching and drydocking all day long (while the big, new-looking marina a quarter mile south is virtually empty). Lucky will be up on blocks for the next few months while we're away and we feel good about the place and the crew. Not to mention the Hurricane Club here, where they lash all of the boats to hooks embedded in the cement if there's a threat in the area. In fact, with Hurricane Ida lurking last week, there are a few of the bigger vessels tied down now and the guys are watching a new development out at sea again tonight. Probably won't affect us, but it's comforting to think that action will be taken if that's what it takes. 

The Melbourne Airport Shuttle is picking us up at 4AM tomorrow morning for our flight home. Six weeks to get here, eight hours to get back. Figure that out!

Lucky Enuff was manufactured down here at SeaRay's Merritt Island plant in mid 2007 (we can tell by the Hull ID numbers). SeaRay's yacht manufacturing is done a few miles away, right here on the Canveral Canal and Mark at Hutchinsons arranged a factory tour for us this morning. Absolutely amazing! Larry from SeaRay Sales picked the three of us up at Harbortown this morning at nine and gave us a tour of the yacht assembly facility, from hull molds, laying fiberglass and chop, electrical harnessing, furniture and cabinet assembly to engine and appliance installation to in-water testing. It was awesome and even though our particular model was not made here, most of the construction techniques are the same. We (well, I should only speak for myself, but I think we all agree) were impressed with the streamlined assembly process and  control of fit and finish at every stage. I really think I have a better understanding of our vessel because of it. We even saw the mold for the triple secret new 75 foot Sundancer, probably due to be released next year some time (no doubt depending on the economy's recovery). Larry brought us back to Harbortown where we pumped out and got a little bit of fuel for the final leg, Harbortown to Sebastian River. The winds were predicted to be 15-20, gusting to 25 during the day, so the wide-open Indian River was going to be riled up again today. We took it slow all the way, the rationale being that #1 when we get to Sebastian the trip is over and #2 there's nothing much to do in Sebastian when we do get there. We were underway by eleven thirty, passing Cocoa, Melbourne (Anthony's home these days), Eau Gallie and a few other towns at our favored 10mph. Around four we spotted the big building next to Sebastian River Marina (another boat storage facility) and as Linda and Anthony started to relax a bit, I started to tense. The weatherman had under-estimated that darn wind speed by at least five miles an hour and the gusts looked pretty serious. Sebastian River lies on the western shore of the river and, although it has a protective basin, I know from past experience that the wind and current are big factors.  OK, no big deal, I have managed successful dockings in every state from New York to Florida, so why should this be any different? A call on the radio rallied the dockhands and anyone else worried about their vessel in the county. As we pulled in through the breakwater I looked for the eighth slip on the west, or land-ward side. Tough to miss with those guys on the bows of the boats on either side of ol' number eight. The breakwater doesn't really break any water here and those 30mph gusts seemed to be pretty consistent. I got us 90% in on the first try, but as I was distracted for a fleeting second, I lost control of the bow and it swung back toward the port, back in the direction that we had just come. Trying not to get flustered or frustrated, I backed Lucky into the wind (which I wish I could have done in the first place) and set the tail a little past where we needed to be, then swung the bow around and into the slip (while guys were running around trying to catch stern lines and two other guys were on adjacent bows flinging spring lines and bow lines at Linda and Anthony). After the dust settled a bit, Doug Hillman, our host, let out a resounding "Welcome Home". I wasn't planning on making such a "grand" entrance, but we are in, washed off (boat and captain) and the trip, at least this portion, is over. Equal parts relief and disappointment. But even thought we're heading for Northern New York Wednesday morning at 4AM, we'll have a new batch of great memories (and a couple thousand photos) to keep us going over the Holiday Season and into the New Year when we will hopefully be able to continue the adventure. One prop, one grounding and one generator impeller. But I will not dwell on the negative. Of our four trips to Florida by boat, this has been, hands down, The Best! Good night....

They just bring wine! Gary and Maria Gustin (Gary is one of Double Axel's original roadies) arrived from Tampa around noon time, just in time for a walk on the beach and some lunch at Riverview. There was a wine tasting walk along Flagler Av, the main beach access road in New Smyrna, on Saturday afternoon and it looked like everyone was having a pretty good time with it. The (smart) decision was made not to join in, tho, as the wine-walk would have led to a wine-can't-walk quite a bit earlier than we were willing to face. It would have been unfair to welcome our other guests to a party that was already over. We did our own walk down Flagler a couple of times after lunch and stimulated the local economy as well as we could (getting tough at this point in our trip). Erica and Anthony showed up precisely in time for cocktails on the back of the boat (beautiful afternoon), further helping us deplete our inventories. Tina also joined the fray and we gave Wally a wake up call from the cockpit, rallying him in time for his own happy hour activities in snow country. Dinner back at the Riverview was great, outdoors on their deck with three sisters singing some standards for us. That place really has the atmosphere and I'm sure there are hundreds of other great places to eat in NSB, but the Riverview always gets the nod. 

It was pretty early when we all (except Anth & Erica) started to yawn, so we dug out the sleeping bags and the Travasack, Gary and Maria getting the stateroom, Erica and Anth getting "Rob's Room", the rear salon and Linda and I sleeping outside in the cockpit. I'm pretty sure everybody was comfy, Erica and Anth watched Eagles videos while the rest of us snored away. A really cool time on the boat with three couples all living a life of harmony, as the song went. The only unfortunate thing was a bit of a diesel smell around from a spill in the water, we think from a nearby marina and a little carelessness. The Coast Guard and local law enforcement are usually pretty nasty about these things, but we didn't see any action taken about it. Spilling fuel, however, is something that you do not want to do in the state of Florida.

We were up fairly early Sunday morning and Linda fixed us all breakfast from whatever we had left in the refrigerators.  We always seem to be able to slap together another meal, no matter how low the supplies look. Tina came over for coffee and it was a great morning. Gustins had to head home to tend to felines and Tina was off to see her sister with her Mom for the day. Erica had to work Monday AM and was probably looking for some time alone, leaving Anthony with us to continue the trip to Sebastian with one more stop,  Sunday night at Harbortown on the Canaveral Canal. We left around eleven AM, heading across Mosquito Lagoon, through Haulover Canal and down the Indian River. The winds have been picking up over the last few days, but we've been in very sheltered waters, so passing through Daytona, Adventure, Inlet and New Smyrna have been great. Sunny and hot, something that we will soon bee missing, I' m sure. Mosquito and the Indian River are much wider waterways with channels that run primarily on the western edges, so the wind has time to build the waves over the shallows into some messy and uncomfortable traveling. We got into Harbortown around four after seeing our first waves since the Chesapeake. It was a little bumpy, but we really had trouble complaining after the conditions we've been in for the last few weeks. The anxiety, tho, was a result of other boaters on the water on that Sunday afternoon. Because conditions were a bit nasty, there were a few boats having some trouble keeping on course without wandering all over the channel. Compound that with some captains moving boats on a tight schedule to points south as fast as possible. The situation around the swing bridge in Titusville was actually a little scary. Two sportfishermen plus us passing a big, beautiful trawler who had slowed down for the pass and another smaller trawler, completely oblivious, being hailed on every VHF channel with no response, that could not stay out of his own way, let alone everyone else's. Even in the roiling (cool word, huh) current after the bridge, Linda said "pick it up and let's get the hell away from them!". Which, of course, we did just as the small trawler in question veered off toward us and the boat behind us. Never a response on the radio or to the guys behind us flipping them off. Needless to say, the entrance to the nice, calm, protected canal was a real relief. Anthony and I took a swim in the pool at Harbortown ("hasn't been a local in here in two months") and we got the Coleman out for white hots and cheeseburgers on Lucky. Tomorrow we'll be off to our final destination, Sebastian River Marina after our 9AM appointment. Only one more docking to go in 2009!

The water taxi was right on time and the captain docked right in between the rather large cruisers that had followed us in. He got the front deck just enough on the dock for Tina to get of before the current took them off again. Ponce de Leon Inlet runs pretty quickly, not much room for error. Tina, Linda and I enjoyed the sunset time on the back of Lucky and grabbed a little dinner at the marina restaurant as we listened to the guitarist/keyboardist/singer play stuff ranging from new country to Jimmy to Clapton, loud and clear. It was a beautiful evening, but our captain was pretty tired out, must have been the eight mile journey and all that navigating. At any rate, we turned in early and were up early as the big boats took off for parts unknown at first light. We, however, lounged around for quite a while before getting the energy up to walk the beach and chase the seagulls. Around eleven the three of us cast off for New Smyrna Beach City Marina, always a cool stop and a docking challenge. It took us around an hour to pass by Tina and Wally's place, right across the river from the marina. The current was going north, the wind going south, but Lucky was very cooperative, John The Dockmaster got our lines and we were in once again. The rest of the day was spent on pretty menial things,like getting the residue that the birds had left on the boat overnight, cleaning the windows and generally checking around. In an effort to clean out the refrigerator and freezer, we invited Tina back over for a leftover extravaganza and it was really great! An after dinner walk to the lift bridge and I've had it once again. Tomorrow should be an exiting day, tho. You know how sometimes you just start inviting people to visit, but nobody ever shows. Then all of a sudden they all say "YES!" . My old buddy Gary Gustin and his wife Maria are going to head over from the West Coast and spend the night with us tomorrow. My Godson Anthony and his girlfriend Erica are coming over tomorrow and Anth is going to head south on the boat with us for a few days. Of course, Tina is nearby and will hopefully join us. The invitation has gone out to Dale and Gloria as well, which would round out the party very nicely.And another first - two other couples spending the night on the boat. We've heard about a wine tasting affair in the afternoon as well, so we'll see what tomorrow really has in store. Really excited about having more company, Don't Stop The Carnival.....

We were just casually talking about this and that with Dale & Gloria on the whopping five mile boat ride today, solving the problems of the world, when the subject of boating and Jupiter, Fl crossed paths. As we told them of some of our adventures with Music Man and Pristine over the past few years, Gloria said something about her cousin knowing some boaters from Jupiter. One thing led to another, as these things do, and her cousin was discovered to be Sharon McGrann. Of course, they have moved to Charleston, to which I said, "I know-we had dinner with her and Carl last year, and I played on their back porch a summer or two ago on Wellesley Island. We love those guys!".  Jeez...

The four of us were trying to decide where to go for lunch after our outing this morning, ended up at the Boondocks, the outdoor restaurant at Adventure Marina. Jim The Dockmaster was having lunch and wondered what the heck we were doing back there. Well,  my friend, life is hard to explain sometimes. Gloria asked the waitress what kind of fish the Rueben was made with, to which the feisty lady answered with a straight face-"the same as the last two years and the same for probably the next two years....barracuda!" Kind of set the tone for lunch right there, as we ordered the margaritas straight up. Dale and Gloria left us back off at the boat at Inlet Harbor and I immediately passed out. Must have been the incredible pressure of the five mile trip, or maybe not.  Anyway, Tina arrived on the 6PM water taxi from  New Smyrna and the next chapter begins. Our first overnight female guest!

Never, ever. Linda was looking through our journals yesterday morning and happened upon Dale & Gloria Gardner's phone number in, you guessed it, Daytona Shores, maybe three miles up A1A. The Gardners live (summer) in Canton, Linda and Gloria taught together for many years and we haven't seen them in a long while. They had just arrived in town earlier this week, but were nevertheless ready to carry on. We invited them over for cocktails and enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the boat, then headed for Lulu's in Ormond Beach for dinner, followed by a tour of the Gardner residence here in town. Awesome spot, a block from the beach and big enough to handle the whole gaggle of Gardners (four grandchildren, etc) when the occasion arises. As you may know, Dale is a pretty active firefighter, in fact still teaches the firefighting courses for BOCES up north (from his video closet in Daytona, no less). We have invited Dale to come along with us on a short jaunt to Ponce Inlet this morning and he'll probably have us doing Chinese fire drills around the boat or something (well, that might be a problem). Gloria's a little reluctant, but we might be able to  convince her. Although we are hating to leave Adventure Harbor, the time is right and Tina is going to meet us at Ponce for the night and the trip to New Smyrna on Friday. So, if you thought things were winding down, forget it. We're warmed up and ready to go!

Side note on St. Augustine: We passed a small outboard on the Tolomato River pulling a waterskier, cutting like crazy through the wakes of the three boats traveling south. What a riot they were having! And the run was at least four miles, perfectly straight all the way. Water temperature, 75 degrees and flat calm (except for us).

On our dock around cocktail hour I saw one of the dock hands heading for a slip on the opposite side of ours and thought  "Aha, new neighbors". I jumped onto the dock to see if I could assist in any way when a cruiser came around the T-Head of the dock way faster than I would go. The trusty wife (I assume)/slash/ first mate was on the bow with no lines ready, no fenders out and evidently, no clue as to what to do. The current in St. Augustine is stiff and the wind was adding its two cents to the equation. As the boat came in bow first the current grabbed him, spun him around and laid him sideways against a piling, heading back the way he came while the aforementioned wife/mate hugged the aforementioned piling for dear life, still with no line connected to the boat. The dock hand finally got a line on the middle cleat and between us and the guy from the next boat over, we wrestled them around the piling and partially into the slip. If I hadn't been in this situation (or worse) myself, I might have thought it humorous. There's one thing that I have learned, mostly the hard way : Never EVER get confident. It could happen to you in a heartbeat. Back to the story: after finally getting the vessel situated in the slip and connected to power, cable, water, whatever, the captain came over and thanked us for the assist. He had hit something coming in the St. Augustine inlet and one of his engines had an alarm screaming and he couldn't keep it running, so docking in the current and wind with one engine and no bow thruster or other helpful gadget, he was pretty much screwed, as they say. The wife/mate was panic-stricken and helpless. His port engine was down three quarts of oil, hence the alarm and shutdown. There was no oil in the bilge, so it must have removed itself from the boat some other way, none of which are pleasant to think about. He had refilled the oil and was going to "keep a close eye on it". The boat was still floating this morning, but  I don't think I'd go too far before finding out where the oil went. Would you?

Woke up this morning at the usual time and had already walked a mile around town before nine o'clock. Needing some groceries, we headed across the Bridge Of Lions Substitute (the city of St. Augustine is rebuilding the classic Bridge Of Lions, so the construction company has built a "new" bridge while they restore the original, then they'll dismantle the temporary one). The market wasn't quite as nice as we remembered, but then again, pretty much every town we've stopped at all the way down the East Coast seems to have suffered a bit from this economy (except for Hilton Head, no recession there). We are doing our civic duty to try and turn things around, but it may not be enough. We've seen lots of empty storefronts and vacancy signs along the route, plus an amazing array of construction projects, both commercial and residential, that are laying dormant. On the bright side, there seem to be as many or more boats traveling in the same direction we are, so I take that as a good sign of the winter economy in the south. 

We visited the St. Photios Greek Orthodox Shrine this morning and spent a bit of time in the Catholic chapel downtown. Both of them are beautiful and inspiring. We said our thanks for a wonderful trip so far and lit candles for our departed Mothers. This area is very rich in history, having been under lots of different flags over the last few centuries. Originally, the story goes, the Spanish thought that the Greeks would adapt well to the climate here (which I have), so they recruited them to come over and work the farmland (which I probably won't). From here my countrymen settled their first real colony in New Smyrna. It's hard to escape history lessons here, what with the Fort Marion military positions, Flagler empire and all of the different countries' claims. A truly beautiful city and we enjoyed our day here like it was the first time. The weather looks better (but breezy) tomorrow, so we'll be heading for Daytona Beach's Adventure Harbor. Adventure, my middle name...